(CNSNews.com) – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday likened the violent Mexican drug cartels to an insurgency, similar to the drug wars in Colombia, but she did not say that securing the U.S.-Mexico border was necessary to curtail that violence.

Clinton made her comments at the Council on Foreign Relations during a question and answer session following her speech on foreign policy. Secretary Clinton was asked about the northern hemisphere and remarks she previously made about the the demand for drugs in the U.S. and the alleged flow of guns into Mexico.

(ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)

“It is very much on our minds, and we face an increasing threat from a well-organized network, drug trafficking that in some cases is morphing into or making common cause with what we would consider an insurgency in Mexico and in Central America,” Clinton said.

“And we are working very hard to assist the Mexicans in improving their law enforcement and their intelligence – their capacity to detain and prosecute those who they arrest,” she said.

Clinton praised Mexican President Felipe Calderon for his “courage” and said the violence in Mexico resembles the drug wars in Colombia.